Volleyball team makes history

GOOD DIG:

BRENT COOPER

The Huntsville High School senior boys’ volleyball team pulled off an upset last Wednesday as the fourth-ranked team managed to win the Georgian Bay Secondary Schools Association’s volleyball title at home.

HUNTSVILLE - History has been made within the walls of the local high school gymnasium.
For the first time, the Huntsville High School senior boys’ volleyball team has won the Georgian Bay Secondary Schools Association title.
The team upset the top-ranked team from Bradford in the opening round before defeating St. Theresa’s Catholic High School from Midland in the championship final.
The Hoyas, who hosted the championships last Wednesday, were seeded fourth going into playoffs.
They cruised to the Muskoka Parry Sound crown the previous week, defeating Bracebridge-Muskoka Lakes in the semifinals and Almaguin in the finals, all in straight sets.
The mood was electric in the gymnasium for the Hoyas’ opening game against Bradford, as the stands were jammed with students, cheering on their schoolmates.
That enthusiasm apparently aided the Hoyas as they took out the number-one seeded Bradford team in five matches, 3-2.
Huntsville met St. Theresa’s, the number two seed, in the finals. That series also went the distance with the Hoya coming out on top 3-2.
“They have a very strong program,” Hoyas’ head coach Ross Clarke said about the Midland team. “They had one wonderful player up the middle who was virtually unstoppable. We had to make some defensive adjustments to contain him. We lost the first set 25-15 then we made the adjustments and came back to beat them in the fifth set 15-11.”
Clarke said he couldn’t give kudos to just one player as to why HHS was able to capture the title, saying the team was very deep.
“We were a full-team team where other teams had two or four players. We were able to contribute to the win with a full capacity and even the first-year players who didn’t actually participate in the games on Wednesday had a huge role on what we did out there.”
The team includes Brodie Muckler, Scott McDonald, Jason Connolly, Josiah Wahl, Jack
Callaghan, Will Martin, Jacob Parliament, Matt Pepper, Spencer Hazelwood, Jordan Connolly, Brady Irving, Eli Smyth, Matt Huddelston and assistant coach Drew Pahapill.
The team leaves today (Wednesday) for the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations tournament, which will be held in Kingston.